The initial shipment of Pfizer's COVID-19 pills, which arrived on Thursday, will be administered to patients from Friday. 

The batch of 21-thousand courses landed at Incheon International Airport at around 2 p.m. and were delivered to a logistics center in Ochang, North Chungcheong Province. They were then distributed across the nation early on Friday. 

The government signed pre-purchase deals for a total of 762-thousand courses of Pfizer's oral drug Paxlovid. 

With the limited amount, the government plans to administer the pills to patients with compromised immune systems and those aged over 65. 

The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters said another ten-thousand courses will be delivered by the end of this month and the remainder of the agreed upon amount will be brought in gradually.